Frühlings Fun with Family in Franconia

It was the middle of May...

(I know that was nearly half a year ago, but better late than never...)


I boarded a morning train from Munich, in southern Bavaria, towards Würzburg in northern Bavaria in the region known as Franconia. The train was nearly empty and so I sprawled across four seats facing each other with the table in the middle. I took my shoes off, put my feet up, and pulled out my laptop. It was about two hours to Nürnberg where I could change trains to Würzburg. I was on my way to visit Sybille (3rd-cousin twice removed) and Wolfgang and their family, who were gathering at a hotel in a small town in Franconia to celebrate their 30th Wedding Anniversary. They live in northern Germany and I hadn't seen them since last fall.

Just as I was getting comfortable in my four seats, the ticket inspector came along. I had a special Bavaria-Ticket that allows one to travel all day on any regional train in Bavaria. However, as the ticket inspector informed me, it is only valid after 9AM and it was still only 8AM or so. Doh! I knew this rule but forgot about it completely.

He said I could either get out at the next stop or pay €30. And so I got out at the little town of Rohrbach, just outside of Munich. The next train wouldn't be coming for another hour and a half! It was raining outside but I couldn't just sit around in a dull train station for that long, so I got out my umbrella and went into town to see what there was to see.

Turns out the city of Rohrbach is not much more interesting than its train station. Even still, I tucked into a small bakery and ordered a pastry and a hot chocolate and enjoyed that at the table as I watched the locals come in to order their morning bread.

Eventually my train came. As an accidental parting token to Rohrbach, I left my umbrella in the train station.

The rest of my journey to Würzburg went fine. It remained cloudy but the spring countryside was beautiful...

Eventually my train pulled into the Würzburg station and I was met by Sybille & Wolfgang's daughter Antje, and her boyfriend Michael. The last time I had seen them was nearly a year previous when I was visiting Würzburg where Michael was studying at the time. We walked to their favorite bakery and got sandwiches for lunch and then went to their favorite chocolate shop for another cup of hot chocolate for me and coffee for them.

Würzburg...

The rain had stopped but it was still quite cloudy as we left Würzburg by car and drove a few kilometers into the countryside to a small town called Geiselwind.

The attraction of Geiselwind for Sybille & Wolfgang and family is that it is right next to an amusement park (for the grandkids) and the hotel hosted a large golf course (for Sybille & Wolfgang).

We got to the hotel and they checked me in. I had my own room with a nice view of the town. Everyone else was at the amusement park already.

You could see it from the hotel parking lot...

So we headed over to Freizeitpark Geiselwind to find the others. It was about half as big and half as fancy as Lagoon, but it was still a fun place for the kids. We found the others soon enough and then went around to a few of the different rides.

Michael and I rode one of those rides that takes you up really fast and then drops you. Nobody else dared...

We rode a roller coaster and a few other rides, including King Ludwig's Log Flume...

I rode it a couple of times; here with Anjte and Michael...

As we rode past in our log, the kids (Sidney and Elias) got to spray us with a water cannon...

We watched a diving show that was pretty amusing...

After having our fill of the amusement park, we trundled back to the hotel to rest and clean up.

That evening we had a nice BBQ dinner at the hotel and enjoyed sitting around the table and chatting.

Another hotel guest had a little dog that wandered over our table to say hi. Sidney thought it was pretty cool...

The next day we ate a nice breakfast and then we all drove to the town of Bamberg.

Bamberg had been on my list of places to visit for awhile so I was looking forward to going there.

After parking we started off into the city. Bamberg is known as the "Venice of Franconia" because of its situation on the Regnitz river and its few canals...

Looks just like Venice, don't it?...

Bamberg was one of the few large towns that was never bombed during World War II so most of the buildings are very well preserved...

It was a bit cool, but we had fun wandering the streets and seeing the sights...

We visited Bamberg's most famous tavern and brewery, the Schlenkeria, where they brew a famous "smoked beer." (The criss-crossed-beamed house on the right)...

The sign over the entrance...

It was packed with people eating lunch, but Sybille & Wolfgang surprised us with a small room off to the side that they had reserved in advance!


It was fun to sit in this old medieval tavern and wonder about all the people who had enjoyed a hearty meal and drink here in this old room over the centuries.

Everyone ordered their smoked beer (except the kids, Michael, and I - we had Apple Spritzers)...

The food arrived and I got a Franconian specialty of ground meat wrapped in a giant onion with a slice of bacon on top, gravy, and mashed potatoes on the side. It was good!

Elias and his mom had fun with the coasters...

After enjoying our hearty lunch we stepped outside. While waiting for a few to use the bathroom we had some fun with one of the street mirrors...

We then walked over to the Bamberg Cathedral...

Surrounded by the old bishop's palace...

Cool reliefs above the palace gate...

Inside the cathedral...

Ancient artwork...

Group photo outside the cathedral...

We worked our way to the city hall on the river...

There were actually a lot of American tourists, partly because there's a large US Army base nearby...

Frescoes on the city hall walls...

The city hall on the Regnitz river...

Here we are on the bridge...

Exactly like Venice...

Some of the kids (and adults) were getting tired so a few went back while the rest of us stayed and wandered around a bit more.

The Saturday market was in full swing...

It was asparagus season and the Germans love their asparagus, and Franconia is well-known for producing this vegetable...

We enjoyed a stop at a small cafe for hot chocolate and cake and then we headed back to the car. On the way we passed a group of drinkers on the "Bier Bike." Drinking while pedaling...

We saw a family get their picture taken. They were only left with the frame...

Just kidding...

Back at Geiselwind we had a relaxing evening and enjoyed a good dinner together in the hotel dining room. We gave Sybille & Wolfgang their anniversary gifts (the Ruby Anniversay, so everything was red).

The next morning we had a laid-back brunch in the dining room.

Elias and Sidney with Oma Sybille...

Elias explaining a ride at the amusement park...

...and then it was time to say our goodbyes. It had been a great couple of days with my German relatives and Sybille & Wolfgang were so kind to invite me along.


Here are the places featured in today's blog...

View Frühling in Franconia in a larger map

Aufwiedersehen!

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A Century of "The Symphony of a Thousand" aka Nate is a Nerd

You don't have to watch this, but just click on it and listen as you read...

One of my favorite composers is the Austrian Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)

Mahler was known in his day mainly as a conductor, but he also wrote nine symphonies and several orchestral song cycles.

Throughout his life, when he premiered a symphony of his, the reception was usually very poor. Even the symphonies that were somewhat well received, were not enough for people to place Mahler in the pantheon of great composers. Yet he continued to write.

With his Eighth Symphony, Mahler created something totally different and unique to what he had done before. The work would be based on two very different texts, one an ancient latin Christian hymn Veni Creator Spiritus, and the other a German poem from Faust by Goethe. Both texts shared a message of redemption through the power of love and confidence in the eternal human spirit.

The performance forces required were huge: an enlarged orchestra (with organs, pianos, glockenspiels, mandolins, and other odd instruments), a choir, a boys choir, and four soloists. The producer of the premier performance billed it as the "Symphony of a Thousand," due to these large numbers, and though Mahler disapproved of this title, the name stuck.

It was exactly 100 years ago today, September 12th, at the Neue Fest-Halle in Munich that the work premiered. This former music hall was damaged in World War II and is today the site of a Transportation Museum. It is only a half a mile from my church and so I decided to leave a bit earlier for church today and visit the site.

There was an auto show going on outside and a bit of construction...

Inside you could see old trains, helicopters and carriages from the museum. At the premiere of Mahler's 8th, many of the who's who of turn-of-the-century musicians and composers were there including Camille Saint-Saëns, Richard Strauss, Anton Webern, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Bruno Walter, Leopold Stokowski...

Here is a photo of one of the rehearsals at the Neue Fest-Halle...

And here is a similar view from today....

As the finale reached its conclusion and the music stopped, there was a short pause and then the entire hall burst into tremendous applause that lasted for over 20 minutes. The 8th was a complete success! Nine months after his triumph in Munich, Mahler died at the age of 50.

Though his music went through a few decades of neglect after his death, prominent conductors like Leonard Bernstein and even Maurice Abravanel did much to bring his works into the spotlight. Today, Mahler is one of the most often programmed and popular composers of the last 150 years.

I first became familiar with Mahler's 8th after buying the CD in Hungary while on my mission. Not long after I got home I was talking with Craig Jessop, former director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a friend of my dad's. I jokingly asked him when they were going to perform Mahler's 8th whereupon he pulled out two tickets and said, in just a few weeks here you go! It was a great experience to hear it live.

It was also fun today to go and see where it all started exactly 100 years ago to the day...

I told you I was a nerd.

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